Would you give away your wedding ring if it would save someone’s life? How about if it would save 5 or 10 lives?

This week, a friend introduced me to the web site With This Ring. The idea is simple, yet powerful–sell your wedding ring and use the money to save lives. It is in keeping with Luke 12:33: Sell your possessions and give to the poor.

I e-mailed the director of With this Ring, Ali, and she e-mailed back, signing her e-mail, “Ringless in Christ.”

I, too, am Ringless in Christ.

Several months ago, I sold my wedding set for $150, and I also sold a one-carat diamond solitaire (not high quality) on Craig’s List for $1000. I’m sharing this information not to boast, but to give you a practical idea of what you might expect, and so you might know one way to go about selling your ring.*

This picture at right that was featured in Monday’s post is real. The girls are real. It’s not posed or photo-shopped. It was taken a few weeks ago in Uganda by friends of ours. The girls are real, and they are eternal.

The picture of this diamond ring is also real. But it is not eternal. It can be lost, stolen, or lose its value, and will definitely be left behind when we leave planet earth.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:18

Will you join Ali and me, and others (see the Radical Givers page) who have parted with their wedding rings to save lives?

Selling something we cherish can be difficult, but is also rewarding when it is exchanged for something that is more cherished. We must FIX our eyes, focus them purposefully, on what is unseen and eternal–and of infinitely greater value.

One last thought: Jesus says to sell our possessions and give to the poor. He doesn’t say, “Sell your possessions for what you originally paid, and give to the poor.” Yes, there will be a monetary loss. But that loss is gain in Christ.

Jesus is Lord of all we are, all we have, and yes, HE is Lord of the Rings!